Automotive company expands its operations in Rugby after receiving grant to buy new machine

Orscheln Europe assembles mechanical cables, accelerator pedals, shifter assemblies and fluid level indicators (FLIs) for the On-Highway (Truck and Bus), Off-Highway (Construction and Agricultural Vehicles), Aircraft, Military and Speciality markets from its base at Central Park in Pelham Road.

Customers include DAF Trucks, Leyland Trucks, Volvo Trucks, CNHi, Caterpillar, Renault Defence, Terberg, Cummins Engines, Perkins Engines, Pilatus and Piaggio.

Pete Smith, general manager at Orscheln Europe, said the business had previously used a hand engraving machine to etch the blades in the FLI assemblies for low volume orders but he wanted to make the process more efficient.

He contacted Adam Plumb at the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub for advice, and he advised him to apply to Rugby Borough Council for its Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) scheme which was introduced by the government post-pandemic to help companies speed up their expansion plans.

Orscheln Products received a grant of £14,785 and invested a further £12,000 in the FLI Production Cell to buy a state-of-the-art machine from GT Schmidt in USA, the same machine used at their USA Plant.

Adam also put Pete in touch with his colleague Rich Hales from the Growth Hub’s Employment Solutions portal – which is a free service for job seekers, employers, recruiters and education leavers to find jobs, post vacancies and access support measures – when he had a vacancy for a technical sales position which has now been filled by Jonathan Hamilton to take Orscheln Products’ workforce up to 15.